


Worth It

by snack_size



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Awkward Steve, Bruce is Great at Sex, Does Anyone Ship This?, M/M, More Awkward Bruce, taking it slow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-17
Updated: 2012-06-21
Packaged: 2017-11-07 22:37:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,844
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/436207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snack_size/pseuds/snack_size
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i> “Let’s recap,” Tony said, handing the blow torch he had been using to Bruce.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Recap what?” Bruce asked - they had just been talking about particle physics, and it certainly wasn’t something either of them needed reminder of.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“You’ve gone to the museum, you’ve gone for Indian food, you went to see a movie, and what was it yesterday?” </i>
</p><p>
  <i>Bruce swallowed, glad that Tony wasn’t facing him and was, instead, using a wrench on the latest version of the suit. “Ugh-”</i>
</p><p>
  <i>“Oh, that’s right, you went to a concert,” Tony said, almost casually, and Bruce sighed. </i>
</p><p>
  <i>“It was free,” he tried.</i>
</p><p>Bruce likes Steve, and, as it turns out, Steve likes Bruce - but it's all very awkward, and they agree to take it slow.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

“Steve?” Bruce said, rubbing at his eyes - he wasn’t used to stale air conditioning air, even after three weeks. “Is everything...OK?” He checked again, to make sure his initial assessment was accurate - Steve was sitting, on a kitchen chair, staring at the coffee maker.

Steve waved his hand at the coffee maker and gave Bruce the large, puppy-dog eyes that Bruce would think were practiced if he wasn’t certain that Steve was the most genuine person on the planet.

“Do you want some coffee?” Bruce asked. 

“I just...there’s so many buttons,” Steve said, finally. 

“Yeah,” Bruce said. “What do you want? Black?” He stopped before rattling off the other options. 

“That sounds good,” Steve said. He gave Bruce a slight smile as Bruce pressed several buttons on the machine and put a large mug beneath it. “Thanks.” 

Bruce nodded. It was going to take a minute or two for the coffee to come out, and he wasn’t entirely sure what to say to Steve - he had just moved in a few days ago, but Bruce hadn’t really come across him until now. Bruce had been spending most of his time in his lab, or in Tony’s lab. Their only real interactions had been on the Helicarrier, and in the aftermath of the battle, and Bruce couldn’t help but remember how wary Rogers had been of him - the whole I’m only concerned with you finding the Tesseract speech had been counteracted by how he jumped on Tony after he poked Bruce with the pointy whatever it was. 

“So...everything been going alright?” Bruce asked. 

“Oh, yeah,” Steve said. “The gym is...well. And Pepper’s been really helpful, you know, getting things, so...” he shrugged his shoulders, and for a moment, Bruce could see how...lonely he was. And he completely understood that. 

Not only that - but he was just a kid, Bruce realized. It was easy to forget it, to just think of him as a walking anachronism, as Captain America, the guy who had led them in battle. But now, defeated by the coffee maker, it was pretty clear that Steve Rogers was young, and lonely, and completely out of his element. Add that smile, and those eyes, and it was hard to resist-

“Look,” Bruce said, and he glanced at his watch. It was eight in the morning - normally, Tony wouldn’t emerge for another couple of hours, and if Bruce remembered whatever Tony had mumbled at him last night, he actually had corporate duties to attend to today. “You want to...I don’t know, watch a movie or something?” 

The coffee was finally done, and he handed it to Steve. “Oh, I don’t want to - I mean, I’m sure you have plenty to do-”

“I’m not really...employed by Tony,” Bruce said. “I could use a break from the lab, anyway. And I think Pepper’s got Tony for most of the day.” 

Steve inhaled the coffee and smiled. Bruce pressed a button to get himself a cup - proper coffee, how he had missed it. “OK,” Steve said. “Is there anything in particular you’d like to watch?” 

“You can pick,” Bruce said. 

Steve interrogated JARVIS for a few minutes before settling on Raiders of the Lost Ark, having asserted his desire to be brought up to speed on pop culture references. “People take it a lot more seriously, now,” he said, settling down on the opposite side of the couch from Bruce.

“Well...there’s more of it, I guess,” Bruce said. “But, I mean, didn’t people say _we’re not in Kansas anymore?_ ” He wasn’t sure - it was a legitimate question.

“Yes,” Steve said. “Maybe it’s access - you know, just being able to wave your hand and find all of these things.” 

Bruce hoped that Steve had yet to discover Youtube. Or Tumblr - even he was scared of Tumblr.

Tony never materialized, and it was all too easy to spend the rest of the day going through the Indiana Jones trilogy - it seemed a good place to start, what with the Nazis and World War II setting. Lunch happened, at some point, Steve dutifully making Bruce an all cheese sandwich while stuffing his own high with turkey.

“This has been good,” Steve said, when Last Crusade came to an end - when Steve had gone to the bathroom, Bruce had told JARVIS not to mention the fourth film. _Don’t worry, Dr. Banner,_ the computer replied. _Master Stark has informed me it is not to be considered part of canon._ “Thanks. It’s nice to just...” he waved his hand around the remnants of soda cans, potato chips, and M &Ms. 

“I hope you know you won’t be paid for any of this,” Tony said - Bruce was convinced that he had timed his entry.

“I’m on salary,” Bruce replied, turning and smiling. 

“Looks like you two kids have had lazy rainy day,” Tony said, pulling his tie loose and looking just a little envious. 

“We watched Indiana Jones,” Steve said. “Bruce pointed out all of the important references.”

“Why does it always have to be snakes?” Tony supplied, and Steve nodded, smiling wide. 

Bruce had to inhale - Steve had a very good smile. It was one of the first things he had noticed about Steve, after he got over the shiny whole of him. “Well, that’s great. That’s productive. There’s only, like, 1,000 more things to catch up on, instead of 1,003.” Tony glanced at Bruce. “Don’t you dare watch Star Wars without me.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Bruce said. 

Tony began to walk out of the room and towards the kitchen. He turned his head, just before he left. “Oh, and Clint and Natasha are moving in. They were a little hurt they weren’t invited to our little fraternity.”

“I thought they had their own apartments,” Bruce said. He found it hard to believe that the two of them would be interested in giving up their autonomy for a living arrangement like this.

“Yeah, well, apparently they’re just as shit as the ones they gave Steve and I told Katniss he could have his own archery range, so...” Tony said. Ah, thought Bruce. That was more like it - and, of course Tony wasn’t going to admit his active commitment to starting Tony Stark’s Home for Unwanted and Lonely Super Heroes. 

“Katniss?” Steve asked.

“Archer character,” Bruce said. “The Hunger Games? They’re young adult books-”

“There’s also a movie,” Tony said, before disappearing into the kitchen.

“I should read more,” Steve said. “I guess I can go to a book store, tomorrow-”

“I’ve already put them on order for you, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS said.

Steve’s eyes widened, and he leaned in a little closer to Bruce - enough that Bruce could smell him, and it was all snips and snails and puppy dogs tails, to be sure. “Does that...computer ever concern you?” 

“Tony programmed it,” Bruce said, hoping that this communicated _more than you know._ He thought it best to be prepared for the fact that JARVIS might go Skynet on them. 

Steve nodded, and seemed to feel vindicated - and it also seemed he got where Bruce was going. “I’m going to go and work out now, I guess,” he said. “You want-?”

“Not really my thing,” Bruce said - he had never really liked it, before, he preferred hikes and bike riding and kayaking and actual activities. And now, any of the reasons that people had for it didn’t apply to him, so. “I should probably get to the lab, though. If Tony had to spend a whole day in board meetings he’s probably tempted to blow something up - intentionally or not.” 

Steve smiled at him, and began gathering up the garbage on the table. Bruce helped him, and for a moment, their fingers hands touched. Bruce felt himself blush, but he did his best to bury it and not look at Steve when it happened. Steve, for his part, just moved his hand and swept up the can that they had both moved for, then looked up and said, “Thanks, again,” to Bruce, again, before taking the garbage in his hands over to the can near the door to the kitchen.

* * * * 

“OK, so, since none of you thought to supply me with your preferences, I just ordered,” Tony said, waving his hands over the pizzas sitting in the communal kitchen. “So, pepperoni, meat lovers, Hawaiin-”

“Yes,” said Clint.

“How did I know?” Tony said, “Pineapple? On pizza? Fuck, man. Oh, and vegetable feast, for Gandhi over there.” 

Steve raised his eyebrows, and Bruce waved at him. “Uhm, he was a famous vegetarian - non-violent leader on the Indian movement for colonial independence,” Bruce said.

Steve nodded, and it really looked like he was taking it in. “SHIELD gave me a laptop,” he said, “loaded with some program, to look all of that stuff up, but...” He shrugged.

“We can just watch the movie,” Tony said, opening the meat lovers pizza box and removing a slice. Steve got a look on his face, as though he was forming some indictment of this attitude in modern society, but then he just shook his head and his normal expression returned.

“Thank you, Tony,” Natasha said, voice slightly formal as she reached for a slice of pizza. It occurred to Bruce that this was probably meant to cover everything, and not just the food that had appeared for dinner. 

“Mmmhmm,” said Clint, loading his own plate with Hawaiian pizza. “Seriously, though, are you telepathic? Or..?” He glanced around the room, implying JARVIS might have had a role in it.

“No, it’s just a matter of knowing people, Barton - you just struck me as the sort of person who would enjoy that sort of perverse excuse for pizza, is all.” 

“Most people generally find it’s not to their advantage to heckle trained super-assassins,” Natasha said, arching an eyebrow at Tony.

“You know,” Bruce said, to Steve, who had chosen the plain pepperoni, “I could help you with your laptop - figure out how to make it a little more user friendly?”

“That would be really great,” Steve said. “One of the agents mentioned there was this website where I could just look up everything I needed to know, but...” He shrugged his shoulders, embarrassed. 

“So, tonight, as part of the continuing education of Steve Rogers and to celebrate our two latest additions,” Tony said, “I thought some James Bond films might be in order.”

“Ugh,” said Clint. 

“What?” Tony asked.

“It’s just...not what it’s like, at all,” Natasha said.

“If I recall, you do crush people’s heads between your thighs, don’t you?” Tony asked.

“The gadgets,” said Clint. "And the...names."

"There was that guy with the cat, in Taiwan-" Natasha began.

"I think that was ironically referential, though," Clint replied. The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Natasha shrugged.

“I’m only participating if we stick to the Sean Connery ones,” Natasha said, crossing her arms. “And possibly Daniel Craig. He is also acceptable.”

“Huh,” said Tony, glancing between her, Clint, and Steve. “So you’ve got a thing for blondes?” He grinned. “And, you know, it’s probably really poor form to murder the generous billionaire who its letting you stay in his awesome tower, rent free-” 

“Who said anything about murder?” Natasha said. She opened the freezer and removed a bottle of expensive vodka. “We might as well do this right.”

Steve smiled - and Bruce did, reflexively, because it was good to see him in a group situation and enjoying the company, taking things in, making an effort...he had looked around the SHIELD files Tony had downloaded to JARVIS, and had felt a little protective of the Captain after reading about how they had handled him - trying to trick him, then putting on the child’s gloves, and, even with the Avenger’s Initiative, acting as though he wasn’t capable of knowing and understanding certain things. He felt bad, poking into it, but their interactions had made him...curious, and besides, it wasn’t like they all hadn’t read each others files. Well, Steve probably respected their privacy, but Bruce knew he at least had the paper copies - the ones that featured several very flattering pictures of him when he broke Harlem.

“Bruce?” Steve asked, and Bruce found himself pulled back into reality. “Were you going to watch the movie?”

“Yeah,” Bruce said. He grabbed the vegetable lover’s pizza and carried it into the living room.

“And maybe after - I mean, if you’re not tired...” Steve said, glancing at his watch - it was five in the evening, but none of them had got anything done that day besides help Clint and Natasha move in - “...you could look at my laptop?”

“Yeah, sure,” Bruce said. “Not a problem.” 

It turned out to be an exercise in patience, and deep breathing - but Steve was still at an age, sort of, where his brain was porous and he was able to take in a good deal of what Bruce was telling him. Certainly not like the time Bruce had tried to teach Betty’s grandmother how to e-mail - _what do you mean, click? Why is it click? What am I doing, clicking?_

It wasn’t too difficult, either, once he realized what Steve’s hang-ups were with the interface. Bruce took most of the links off of his desktop and replaced them with only the ones the Captain was most likely to use, and then organized his bookmarks so he would always be able to go there to look for anything on the Internet. He made a link straight to Wikipedia from the desktop, which Steve really appreciated.

“I should warn you, though,” Bruce said, when he pulled up Google. “There is a dark and terrible side to the Internet-”

“You mean the porn,” Steve said, very matter-of-fact, and Bruce had to laugh. Steve gave him a shy smile. “They told me about that, in the computer class SHIELD had me take-”

“Not just porn,” said Bruce. “You can find _anything_ on the Internet - if someone has an interest in something, it’s on the Internet, from furries to tentacles to...I mean, I wouldn’t type Tony Stark into Google,” Bruce said. He hadn’t been paying attention, as he spoke, and his mouth opened slightly when he saw that Steve had typed furries into the search and was reading the article that came up. 

Bruce was glad he had put the moderate safe search on. “Huh,” Steve said, looking at Bruce. “I see what you mean - and it gets weirder?” 

“Yes,” said Bruce. “Yes, it does.” 

Steve shook his head. “Man, and I thought Tijuana bibles-”

“What?” Bruce asked.

Steve beamed, and typed - he wasn’t a bad typist, but then again, why would be be? They had type writers when he came from - the phrase into the search engine, and then clicked the link for Bruce. “A lot of boys had them, during the war - that and pinups, but these were a lot more...” he shrugged his shoulders, and then reddened slightly when Bruce enlarged one of the pictures.

“Huh,” Bruce said. 

“Yeah,” Steve said. “Turns out porn wasn’t invented in the 1970s.” Bruce laughed, and almost wanted to pat his head, or something - _aw, you made a joke!_ \- but he held it in. “This is good, though - I really appreciate it, Bruce.”

“It wasn’t a problem,” Bruce said. He glanced at the clock on his computer and understood what Steve’s thank you meant to serve as. “I should probably get going - since it’s late, but...”

“Sleep well!” Steve said, and he gave him a little wave as Bruce left the Captains’ room.

* * * *

“Bruce, Tony mentioned...you like art?” Steve asked, as Bruce squinted at the other man’s phone and tried to figure out exactly how he had got it to switch to French - which, thankfully, Bruce was fluent enough with to sort the problem out.

“Uhm...yes?” Bruce said, glancing up. “I mean, I can’t do it, to save - but I appreciate it, I guess.” This was what happened when you dated an art history major in college, he almost added, but didn’t. 

Steve gave him a slight smile. “So, I was looking around on Wikipedia, yesterday, and found out there’s a whole museum of modern art in New York?” 

Bruce furrowed his brow - how was it that no one had mentioned the MoMA to Steve? Pepper, especially? And, that _was_ an interesting question - why had Tony sent Steve Bruce’s way? Bruce shrugged it off, likely Pepper was busy. And, as with many things, no one had mentioned the existence of the museum to Steve because everyone accepted it as fact. “Oh, there we go,” he said, and grinned. He wasn’t that much better with modern phone technology than Steve was, to be fair. Cellphones had changed a lot since he had gone on the run. “And, yes, there is - do you...want to go?” 

Steve nodded, slightly embarrassed. “I guess they’re just reopening, uhm, after, so I thought it might be...” he shrugged, pulling his shoulders up towards his chin and giving Bruce a look, that, if he were a cartoon character, would have his mouth rendered as a squiggle. 

“Sure,” Bruce said. “We can go tomorrow, I’m not on anything really important. And I think the workmen are coming, anyway-”

“Tony’s having them install some kind of glass over the Loki-hole,” Steve said. _He would,_ Bruce thought, but he just shook his head. 

* * * *

They walked down to the museum, and Bruce was relieved to see that, as the damage progressively lessened, Manhattan seemed to come alive again. Steve had a baseball cap low on his head and was doing his best to keep his vision to the sidewalk - there had, he explained as they walked, been a period during the battle when one of the Chitauri had ripped his mask off and a few people had taken cellphone pictures.

“Wait,” Bruce said. “So people are huddled together, about to get...whatevered, by an alien army, and your mask gets taken off, and some people’s first instinct was to take pictures of it?”

“Exactly!” Steve said, and smiled at him. “Tony, Clint, and Natasha didn’t think it was strange at all. Clint was the one who showed me - it was on some website, with the title _Good to Know Captain America Doesn’t Need the Mask!_ ” 

_True,_ Bruce thought, but he just gave an awkward smile and nodded his head. “I mean, it’s not as though it’s the first-”

“Right, there’s the film reels - I never saw those, actually,” Steve said. “Should I?” 

“I think it would depend on how you feel about watching yourself on film,” Bruce replied - he had seen one of them in elementary school, but didn’t remember much of it besides the awkward giggles from some of the girls. 

Steve shook his head. “But, anyway, I guess most people don’t look at those, so...it’s just. Tony can have all of it, he really can. And you’re lucky-” He stopped walking, when he said that, and put a hand on Bruce’s forearm. “I mean, I don’t mean-”

“It’s fine, Steve,” Bruce said. “It’s not like they can send the Other Guy out to do press conferences, right?” Steve smiled at him.

“That’s the first time I think you’ve made a joke-”

Bruce shrugged. “I guess Tony’s rubbing off on me.” Steve looked confused, for a second, and then seemed to understand what Bruce was getting at. He nodded.

“Well, in this instance - not a bad thing,” Steve said. 

The museum was relatively quiet, and they got tickets without waiting in too long of a line. Steve paged through the museum guide eagerly. “Tony gave me this...told me not to be too much of a grandpa, looking at all of the modern art,” Steve said. “Sure, a dot on canvas is a dot on canvas, but it wasn’t like Mondrian wasn’t painting in the 1930s-” He raised his eyebrows and smiled at Bruce.

“What?” Bruce said.

“Nothing, you just knew what I was saying,” Steve said. 

“Yeah,” Bruce said, “I dated an art history major in college.” This took a little bit of the smile off of Steve’s face - no doubt the history portion of things. “Mondrian - the squares, right?”

“Yes,” Steve said, and began to talk more than Bruce had ever really heard him talk about anything - he was approaching Tony Stark levels of verbosity - as they moved through the portions of the museums collection that he was familiar with. Bruce interjected, when he had the opportunity, or asked a question. He was more interested in watching some of the docents as Steve moved from room to room, puppy-like in his enthusiasm. He caught the eye of one younger woman, who gave him a smile and very discreet thumbs up. Bruce reached back and scratched his head. _Yeah,_ he thought. _If only._

The night before, as he brushed his teeth, he had looked at himself in the mirror and thought, _just admit it, Banner, it will make it real, and you can move on. Because there was no way_... So, he thought, as he looked at himself, _I, Bruce Banner, have a crush on Steve Rogers._ It had felt a little better.

“They have a great collection,” Steve said, as they made their way back down on the escalator.

“Yeah, I visited here a few times with Jeff-” Bruce began, and then stopped, pressing his lips together as he glanced at Steve.

Steve blinked, and then nodded. “The art history major,” he said.

“Yeah,” Bruce said. 

“Where did you go to school?” Steve asked.

“For undergraduate? Harvard,” Bruce said. “But he was from New York, so...” He waved his hand, slightly. 

“Do you want to get something to eat?” Steve asked, pulling his map out of his back pocket. “It looks like there’s a sort of cafe on the second level.”

“Sure,” Bruce said - and he felt bad, for being a little surprised, but then, who knew? It wasn’t as though you could just go up to the guy and say, _so, Captain America - gays? Bi? Yay or nay?_ Well, you could. If you were Tony Stark. 

Over lunch, conversation turned to Clint and Natasha’s move, and the fact that Tony was actually putting an archery range in, and how Steve liked to spar with Natasha because her style was so different from his own. “Have we heard anything from Thor?” 

“No,” Bruce said. “I mean, now that they’ve got the Tesseract it sort of gets rid of the problem of not having the Bifrost - the portal, for travel, they had, before Loki broke it-” Steve scowled at the mention of Loki - “I imagine he’ll just turn up one day, though, you know? We are under his protection.” 

“Oh, right,” Steve said, and something about this made him smile. “Let me take your tray,” he said, and cleared up after them before Bruce could even protest.

It was raining when they left, so they took a cab back to the Tower. “You two work there?” the cab driver asked.

“Yes,” Bruce said, at the same time Steve said, “You could say that.” 

Steve turned a slight color of grey when he noticed the cab fare, but Bruce pulled a twenty out of his pocket and gave it to the driver. He told him to keep the change in response to the inconvenience of having to drive them through some of the still devastated parts of the city. 

 

“Well, thanks, again, Bruce,” Steve said, putting his hands in his pocket as they got off at the elevator. “I had a really great day.” Bruce nodded and watched as Steve walked off towards his room. He sighed - and wondered if there was a support group.

* * * *

“Let’s recap,” Tony said, handing the blow torch he had been using to Bruce.

“Recap what?” Bruce asked - they had just been talking about particle physics, and it certainly wasn’t something either of them needed a summary of.

“You’ve gone to the museum, you’ve gone for Indian food, you went to see a movie, and what was it yesterday?” 

Bruce swallowed, glad that Tony wasn’t facing him and was, instead, using a wrench on the latest version of the suit. “Ugh-”

“Oh, that’s right, you went to a concert,” Tony said, almost casually, and Bruce sighed. 

“It was free,” he tried.

“And the Capsicle is as dense about this as he is about-”

“He’s not dense, Tony,” Bruce said.

Tony turned, and lifted the safety goggles off of his face - he appeared, much to Bruce’s dismay, gleeful. “Oh, and you’re defending him? Oh, no, Banner - you’ve got it bad!” 

“Wasn’t that where you were going?”

“I figured you just wanted to fuck him - and all of that was just, you know...” Tony waved his hand. 

“Noo...” Bruce said.

“But you do want to fuck him, too, right?” Tony said, and Bruce blinked at him. “Look, it’s cool. I want to fuck him.” Bruce narrowed his eyes. “Gotcha.”

“Fuck,” Bruce said.

Tony wrapped an arm around Bruce, and Bruce wrinkled his nose - only slightly - at the smell of motor oil. “It’s OK, Bruce, it really is. I’m not going to mock you.”

“What, exactly, was the point of the past few minutes, then?”

“Tease. Rib. Not mock,” Tony said, and he cocked his head as though he was about to pronounce some sort of universal truth - and he did this a lot, “If it makes you feel any better-”

“It won’t.”

“I think he might like you too,” Tony said.

“I was right.” 

“No, think about it? People went on dates in the forties, right? And some people were...homosexual, I’m sure-”

“Tony. People have been gay since-” Bruce began, but then just rolled his eyes.

“Well, he has to be aware that you’re courting him, or whatever you’ve been doing,” Tony said.

“I wasn’t doing anything - sometimes Steve suggested the-” Bruce said, and then wished he hadn’t. 

“Perfect,” said Tony. “So he’s courting you, too!”

“I think we were just doing things together. Like friends do,” Bruce said - Tony, for his part, appeared perplexed by this. “Don’t you and Rhodey go out and...drink and..?” 

“Huh,” said Tony. “But you and Steve aren’t going out, getting drunk, and picking up girls,” he said.

“Steve doesn’t drink,” Bruce said, and then wondered why he was even arguing this point.

“Not that you’re going to take my advice, because you’re being obstinate - which you’re good at, Banner, I’ll give you that - but if you want to get to the bottom of this, ask him out for dinner. He can’t misinterpret that, and especially not if it’s a fancy place.” 

Bruce did not reply to this, because he did not want to acknowledge the fact that Tony might have just given him very good advice.

* * * *

Steve smiled at him as they walked - Bruce had purposefully picked somewhere not too far from the Tower, so they didn’t have to deal with using one of Tony’s drivers. “It’s a really nice night out,” he said. Bruce nodded, and shoved his hands in his pants. They were one of many pairs that had mysteriously appeared when he first moved in, and which he had ignored until tonight - but he was going to test Tony’s hypothesis, he figured he should go full out, and that included looking the part.

Steve looked like Steve, though Bruce thought the button down might be a new addition. The leather jacket certainly wasn’t, and this did not bother him in the least. “You know,” Steve said, and then he stopped.

“Hmm?” Bruce asked.

“I’ve really liked...spending time with you, these past couple of weeks. It’s really made things easier,” Steve said. His own hands were in his pocket.

“Oh,” Bruce said. “Thanks. I’m...well, I know what it can feel like to be out of your element.” He quirked a slight smile, and Steve nodded.

The rest of the walk was in silence, though they didn’t have far to go. Bruce had chose an American bistro, figuring that the way to Steve’s heart was probably through steak and potatoes, though the hostess had assured him they had several lovely pasta dishes available for him as well.

“Oh,” Steve said, glancing around. “This is...this is really nice.” 

“Yeah,” Bruce said, and gave his name to the maitre’d - he almost said something, like, _Tony suggested it,_ but then inhaled and held his tongue - for science.

Bruce had to pull his glasses out to look at the menu, and he winced slightly. “Why?” Steve said. 

“What?”

“You made a face,” Steve said, “when you pulled out your glasses. Why?”

Bruce considered this, and decided to answer honestly. “It makes me feel old,” he said, finally. 

“Oh,” Steve said, and looked down at the menu. “I think they’re...intellectual.” He winced, himself, though it was largely hidden behind the menu.

 _Huh,_ Bruce thought, and before he could think any further, the waiter arrived with an amuse bouche. Steve regarded it with suspicion, even after Bruce took the small thing into his mouth. 

“It’s in a tiny spoon,” Steve said, finally. 

“They tend to come that way, I think, these days,” Bruce replied.

“I just sounded like Thor, didn’t I?” Steve asked, and he sort of giggled, but then stopped as another waiter brought Bruce the glass of wine he had ordered and some sparkling water for Steve. 

It was dinner, largely, Bruce decided as he tucked his brand new Stark Industries Triple Excelsior Platinum Credit Card into the leather holder, deciding it best Steve not see how much the steak and potatoes he had enjoyed so much had cost. The conversation was as easy as it always seemed to be, between them, and Steve had even opened up a bit about his war experience and told Bruce some amusing anecdotes about his time with the Howling Commandos.

“Thanks,” Steve said, as Bruce signed the check.

“It’s...” Bruce began, almost stating that it was Tony’s card, but then he stopped - he had almost forgot the point he was trying to prove. Or not prove. “It’s not a problem,” he said.

“The food was really good,” Steve said, and Bruce nodded.

It was a little cooler when they left the restaurant, and Bruce was glad for the blazer he had worn, even though he felt a little ridiculous in it. “I’m glad you liked it,” Bruce said. “It had really good reviews, so I figured it would probably be worth trying and-”

“Oh, fuck it,” Steve said, interrupting him.

The next things that happened, at the time, happened very fast and in a jolting style Bruce always equated with flip books. Steve took his arm, his touch firm but gentle, and turned Bruce as he still babbled about the website reviews of the restaurant. Steve pulled Bruce close to him, and leaned down slightly to look at him - _and fuck, he was tall,_ Bruce thought, and felt stupid for it, because he knew this. And then Steve’s lips were on his, hard, insistent, while his hand intertwined with Bruce’s. 

“Huh,” Bruce managed, when Steve broke the kiss. 

“I’m sorry, did I - oh, no, I totally read that-”

“No, no, that was good,” Bruce said, voice soft. “I just didn’t think-”

“But you asked me to dinner,” Steve said. 

“Yes, but it was just to prove-” Bruce stopped, then. “I didn’t know if we were on the same wavelength.”

“The same what?”

“Thinking...the same thing, about...” he waved the hand that was not currently intwined with Steve’s around. 

“Oh,” said Steve. “I mean, I wasn’t, either, but then I saw the restaurant, and...” 

“Well, this is good,” Bruce said, and decided it would probably be a good time to kiss Steve again. This time, he opened his mouth and was pleased when the other man followed his lead. Their tongues intertwined, and separated, and the kiss quickly became hungry and forceful. 

“Bruce, I-” Steve said, voice soft. “I’ve never-”

“Really?” Bruce asked, surprised. “Because you’re quite good at it.” Then he blushed, realizing Steve didn’t mean kissed someone - because, of course not.

Steve laughed, and then worried his bottom lip with his tongue. “No, I mean, I want to be honest, I think that’s important - I’ve never been with a man.” 

“OK,” Bruce said, and sort of glanced down at his feet. Steve put a hand under his chin and lifted his head back up.

“I want to be with you - it’s just...” 

“No, that’s...” Bruce trailed off. “That’s fine. I don’t just - I mean, I like being-”

“Great,” Steve said, relieved. He kissed Bruce lightly, and then began to walk, maintaining the contact with their hands. 

“Huh,” Bruce said, after a few moments of silence. Steve cocked his head. “I was sort of waiting for the question, about-”

“Oh,” Steve said. “I guess, I figured, if you were going to take me out, that it was...OK?” 

“It is,” Bruce said, smiling at him, and he felt light. The term they probably used, in Steve’s time, was twitterpated. _Shit,_ he thought, and did his best not to let it cross his face. _This means Tony’s right._ He was going to be insufferable when he found out. Bruce glanced over at Steve, who met his gaze with a smile. _Worth it._


	2. Chapter 2

“I thought...” Bruce said, as they stood in the elevator, “and, not to be presumptuous - but it’s fairly early, and maybe you’d like to watch a movie? In my room, or yours, or-”

“Bruce,” Steve said, “I trust you, when you said...so, I’d like that.” He paused, for a moment. “You have a TV in your apartment?”

“You don’t?” Bruce asked, which made Steve furrow his brow and shake his head.

“It never occurred to me,” he said, finally, and Bruce smiled.

Steve settled right onto the couch while Bruce went back to the small refrigerator in his kitchen, hoping he had something- “Soda?” he asked, relieved, and Steve accepted. Bruce poured a Jack and Ginger for himself, hoping that it might calm his nerves - when he had gone out, this evening, he had never imagined it would end like this. That Steve Rogers would kiss him - that Steve Rogers would be sitting on his couch.

“I want to see one of your favorites,” Steve said. “Not something that I _have_ to see.”

Bruce told JARVIS to play _Edward Scissorhands_ , and was pleased to see that his impulse had been correct - Steve’s appreciation of modern art translated to Tim Burton, and the other man seemed to really enjoy the movie. 

They sat next to each other, a little stiff, and then Bruce decided that since Steve had been the one to make the first move outside the restaurant then it was probably his turn, and so he draped an arm around the taller man and found himself quickly pulled in and resting against Steve’s shoulder. “This is nice,” Steve said, voice soft, and they quickly found the best position to curl into each other. 

Steve squeezed his hand at the ending, and frowned slightly - and for a moment, Bruce regretted the choice, having not really thought how the plot applied to the current situation. He opened his mouth to say something, but Steve quickly kissed him. 

It had been a long time since Bruce had done something like this - an exploration that meant something, and one that he knew was going to end with all of their clothes on. Still, he was able to run his hands over Steve’s chest, to squeeze his ass, to marvel at how gorgeous his body was. Steve’s hands moved just as much, though they seemed to settle, more often than not, in Bruce’s hair.

“It’s so...” Steve managed, when they finally pulled away, and Bruce just marveled at how he looked - his eyes were hooded, eyelashes highlighting his blue eyes, and his lips were stung and red. Bruce was suddenly, acutely aware of the ache he felt. “It’s just really great,” he managed, and grimaced slightly.

“Thanks,” Bruce said. He smiled, softly, and Steve dipped his head. 

“I told Natasha and Clint I’d train with them tomorrow at seven,” Steve said, voice soft. “So I should probably-”

“Sure,” Bruce said.

“But I’ll - we could get lunch, tomorrow? Or eat it together?”

Bruce smiled at him. “Steve - of course.” Steve nodded, smiling back, and then stood up and quickly turned for the door. Bruce empathized, and as soon he was certain that Steve was in the elevator and headed up for his own quarters, Bruce made for the shower. 

It did not take long - he just had to recall the feel of Steve, those strong hands on him, the thought of what they could do to him...and, of course, the way he kissed - urgent and still sweet. Bruce moaned as he came, head down so the water streamed down his back, and exhaled. _This will be a huge exercise in restraint,_ he thought, but then - he was more than acutely familiar with those.

* * * * 

“You’re not going to tell me how things went?” Tony asked, walking into the lab.

“Fine,” Bruce said, pushing his glasses up as he scribbled on the piece of paper in front of him. 

“I was right, wasn’t I?” Tony asked. “Wasn’t I? Come on, we’re scientists, Bruce, you have to give someone credit when their hypothesis plays out-”

Bruce turned on his stool and scowled. Slightly. “You were right,” he said. Tony grinned, and seemed not only pleased with himself but the development in general. 

“Excellent! I think Steve will relax a good deal once he-” Bruce closed his eyes, really not wanting Tony to go there.

“He isn’t,” he said, keeping his voice measured. Tony pursed his lips together and glanced off to the side, clearly deep in thought. Then he just managed a sort of soft, grunting sound. “So...” Bruce said. “Were you here for anything else, or..?”

“Oh, really? We’re going to do that - you’ve got yourself a sex boyfriend, and you’re just going to discard your science boyfriend? After all I’ve done for you, opened up my home-” Bruce exhaled, knowing their was more truth to the statement than Tony really wanted to let on.

“No,” he said. “No, not all - I’m just trying to balance the disparity between these readings, and-”

“Mind if I have a look?” Tony asked, and Bruce smiled and shook his head. _One down,_ he thought, _three to go._ Though the other three had been polite enough - or oblivious enough, in the case of Thor, who was spending a good deal of time with Jane in New Mexico - to not comment. 

Bruce forgot to shoo Tony out before Steve arrived, but it went much better than he anticipated. “You know, Rogers,” Tony said, turning on his stool, “I found him first.” 

“OK,” Steve said. “You want to fight to the death, then, or..?” Tony seemed surprised that Steve made a joke, and his mouth opened slightly as he tried to come up with a response. “Don’t worry,” Steve said. “I’ll try not to interfere with _science!_ ” 

“We’re going to get something to eat,” Bruce said, softly.

“Good,” Tony said. “Someone needs to look after you. Someone sensible,” he added, glancing at Steve, and Bruce hoped that it would be the extent of Tony’s _if you hurt him I will dig out my father’s notes and find ways to hurt you_ speech, though he didn’t think Steve would have that kind of luck.

“So,” Steve said, as the door to the lab closed behind them, “you’re in high demand.” Bruce sort of snorted at this, and Steve put an arm around his waist as they walked. It was a little possessive, but Bruce found he sort of liked it.

* * * *

Any further exploration of their relationship was halted when they were sent to somewhere in Southern Africa to combat a megalomaniac and the robot army he decided to build himself - which, apparently, no one had noticed until it had become an actual robot army. Thor turned up after they had landed in Africa. “I was alerted to the possibility of conflict!” he announced, grinning at all of them as though they were going on a medieval hunt. 

They spent two nights in an old military bunker - Tony insisted it was a gulag, much to Natasha’s chagrin - waiting for waiting for Clint, Natasha, and Coulson to come back with intelligence. 

“I believe I now understand the Midgardian expression I am sweating my ass off,” Thor said, thoughtfully - Tony still had access to JARVIS and so they had spent the majority of their time in front of his computer screen, watching movies.

“Fuck, even the god is hot,” Tony said. 

“No,” Thor said. “I merely said I now understand the expression.”

Steve was largely unaffected by the heat, though Bruce found himself getting restless and annoyed, as he often had as a child. The Hulk prickled closer to the surface than he was comfortable with, and he spent a lot of time walking around the barracks, working on his breathing. 

Then the agents returned, covered in the bites of bugs that had to have been at least one third the size of actual people, and indicated that it was time to move. Bruce had rarely been relieved to turn into the other guy and let him smash a bunch of things - at least he didn’t seem to be affected too much by temperature.

He was surprised to find Natasha when he came to, draped in what she had used as her sarong. “Coulson asked Steve to wait for you,” she said, “but he blushed.” 

“Oh,” Bruce said, and he felt that this was unfair - he didn’t return to his normal mental faculties until at least three or four hours post-Hulk. And, of course, Natasha knew that. “Yeah.”

“Don’t break him,” she said, offering him her hand. “Do you want me to help you tie that?”

“Please,” Bruce said. When the Quinjet lowered to pick them up, he just rolled his eyes at Tony and Clint’s whistles in his direction and went to get the bag he had packed spare clothes in. 

He made eye contact with Steve before he slipped to the back of the jet to change, and he was blushing, just a little, but there was also interest there, and approval, and...so, yeah, that was good. Also the fact that the Hulk seemed to be immune to the blood sucking bugs that had besieged the rest of the team. 

“How did they bite through the suit?” Tony demanded. “That’s what I want to know.”

“They have even accosted me,” Thor said, holding out his arm, where it appeared something had taken out a chunk of his flesh.

“I hope none of you hatch a botfly,” Bruce said. 

“What?” Clint asked, and then they all watched several videos on the Internet in silence, deeply fascinated and very disturbed “How do you - have you _had_ one of these?”

“A few,” Bruce said, shrugging. Steve reached over and put his hand on Bruce’s thigh, and Bruce relaxed into the touch, even though he was aware that everyone was looking at them.

* * * *

Making out - loathe as he was to use a word he had last applied to things he did in college - was good, it was great, Steve was very skilled with kissing, and Bruce was patient. But he was still incredibly relieved when, after three nights, Steve put a hand on Bruce’s cock, hard and still in his pants, and made a loud moaning sound. “Do you want..?”

“Oh, fuck, yes,” Bruce said, and pulled off the tee that Steve was wearing. He was beneath Steve, on the couch, and he brought both his hands up and laid them across Steve’s wide chest. “You’re perfect,” he murmured, and Steve sort of shrugged into himself. 

And, yes, it might have been a bit selfish, but Bruce was in no mood for a repeat on that discussion - not that he didn’t take things like that seriously, in a relationship, but now was most certainly not the time - and so he put his lips on one of Steve’s nipples.

“Oh!” Steve said, and his hands began to unbutton Bruce’s shirt, which Bruce quickly shrugged off as he continued to kiss at one of the nipple’s while running his thumb over the other. 

Pants were more complicated, and Steve had to put a leg on the floor, and Bruce closed his eyes for a moment and hoped he wasn’t being too forward by saying, “Bed?” 

“Bed,” Steve agreed, and Bruce grinned at him. Both of them took off their pants before entering, and Bruce gave himself a moment to take Steve in before he returned to kissing him. He angled himself on top, this time, and got in position to press their cocks together. Steve moaned into the kiss and Bruce pressed down, increasingly the friction. 

“I - oh, Bruce, oh, fuck!” Steve said, and his hands were on Bruce’s boxer briefs and he was cupping Bruce’s ass, grasping. Bruce obliged him, and Steve sucked on his collarbone as he got out of his boxers. _He is gorgeous,_ Bruce thought, and his cock was hard and against the flat of his abdomen and... “I don’t know-” 

“It’s OK,” Bruce murmured, somewhere in the vicinity of Steve’s neck, and he reached for the bedside drawer and extracted the lube. He placed some on Steve’s hand, and then on his own, and allowed Steve to flip him so that he was on his back. 

Bruce took Steve’s cock in his hand and worked the lube over it, gently, and used a finger to trace along the underside of the head and then the tip. “Oh, God,” Steve said, and he gulped before resuming the kiss with Bruce.

Bruce guided him down so that their cocks were aligned, and knew as soon as the friction was established that he wasn’t going to last long - but at least, it seemed, Steve wasn’t either. Bruce put his hand around both of them and began to work, up and down, and he flicked his hips and moaned when Steve began to thrust into his hand. He did best to deliberately keep the pace slow, but his body seemed to be fighting against common sense.

“Yes, Steve, oh...” he said, as Steve leaned down and began to kiss at his neck.

“Bruce-” Steve said, voice a little strangled, and Bruce was gentle as the other man came, and Steve rolled over with his eyebrows raised, a smile on his face. Bruce put his hand on himself, and was surprised when Steve’s hand clasped over it and moved it aside. 

“Oh, you feel so good,” Bruce said, as Steve worked his hand over him, mimicking bits of what Bruce had done, working his thumb along the tip as he pumped. Bruce was done in after only a few strokes, and able to join Steve in the post-orgasm haze.

“That was...that went well,” Steve said, finally.

Bruce wasn’t entirely sure how to respond to that, other than rolling over and kissing Steve hard on the lips.

* * * *

“Since Thor is still here,” Tony said, “I thought we could have a Movie Night.” 

“Is this some ritual?” Thor asked, in-between bites of his hot dog. 

“Somewhat,” Clint said. “You’ll like it - we’ll watch a tale of some-”

“Heroics,” Tony supplied.

“Heroics,” Clint said, “eat more food, and drink.”

“I like it,” Thor said, thrusting the rest of the hot dog into his mouth. “I also enjoy these hot dogs. Pray, what are the made of?” 

Bruce raised his eyebrows and folded his hands in front of him, grinning at the rest of them - then again, he had no idea what people ate in Asgard. Maybe the contents of hot dogs wouldn’t appall Thor. It had certainly been one of the things that contributed to his vegetarianism, though, when he found out. 

“We used to call them tube steaks, in the circus,” Clint said. Tony grimaced, and shook his head in an emphatic no while Clint shrugged. 

“So, ugh, what movie are we going to watch with heroics?” Natasha asked - likely in an attempt to discern how much vodka she needed to bring to the proceedings. Bruce admired her pragmatism.

“Not movie, Natasha, but movies - because I think there’s one thing we can all agree on, which is that Thor is going to love Lord of the Rings.”

“Do you intend to show the Director’s Cut?” Natasha asked, and when Tony nodded, she got up and pushed her chair in. “I will meet you in the media room,” she said, and Tony looked around and shrugged, again.

“Lord of the Rings?” Steve asked Bruce, who had to do a quick fact-check in his head.

“Did you read _The Hobbit?_ ” he asked. Steve nodded.

“I loved that book.” 

“So, this is what happens after - mostly revolving around the ring Bilbo found,” Bruce said. Steve grinned. 

Bruce helped Steve gather up a variety of snacks to bring into the media room, and found himself trailing behind the other man - and a bit fixated by his ass, as he walked, carrying the heavy load of food, beer, and soda that had been heaped on him. An ass he had seen, and felt, he had to remind himself - because it still seemed a little bit surreal. 

“Oh, I see,” Tony said, as Natasha walked in with a fresh bottle of vodka and sat down in the chair she had claimed as her own. 

Bruce took one of the couches, with Steve settling next to him with a soda. “Beer?” Bruce said, hopefully, and one was slid across the coffee table to him. He frowned when he saw that it was a screw top, but Steve took it out of his hands and removed it with no problem. 

“Just add it to the plus column,” Steve said, grinning, and, once again, Tony seemed surprised that Steve made some sort of a joke. Bruce made a mental note - he was going to have to put them together in a room more often. Though it was possible that Tony didn’t regard Steve as particularly funny because Steve didn’t think Tony was funny, which was a clear logic fail on Tony’s part since much of his humor relied on pop-culture referencing and word play. 

Bruce took a sip and relaxed into Steve, who draped an arm around him. He guessed that Steve was looking around the room just as Bruce was. “Ah!” said Thor, “I see there is much I need to catch up on my absence! Congratulations on your coupling. We should have a toast.”

“Yes, let’s,” said Tony, raising his glass of whiskey. “To the Capsicle and the Jolly Green Giant.” 

“Is your tone mocking?” Thor asked, cocking his head as Natasha poured him a glass of vodka. Tony seemed surprised by this, and he slowly shook his head back and forth. Thor raised his glass, as did everyone else, and Bruce clinked against Steve’s cola. 

“Great,” said Bruce, “So, now that the community has approved our courtship, can we get to the movie?” 

* * *

These were things that were good - Steve’s hands on him, allover him, and particularly on his cock. Steve, in the shower. How strong Steve was. His lips. And yes, it was, as Bruce predicted, a huge exercise in self-restraint, but there was a good part of him that didn’t mind - they seemed to get along quite well, they complimented each other, and things were easy when there was a lot of potential for them not to be at all. Bruce keenly remembered plenty of conflicts between friends in college that happened basically because you were dating someone you were living right on top of.

Still, he couldn’t help but want...and it wasn’t like anyone was going to fault him for it, given who his partner was. So, a week after their return from Africa, Bruce tongued Steve’s nipples and figured, _what the hell?_ After all, maybe he was waiting - he had expressed, to Bruce, his own concerns over his inexperience. 

So Bruce began to kiss down, slowly, giving Steve plenty of preparation and a fairly clear explanation of what was about to happen - he put both his hands on either sides of Steve’s thighs and worked his fingers back towards his ass. He dragged his thumbs along the other man’s exquisite hipbones and trailed his mouth directly down from Steve’s naval to where the head of his cock hit. 

He looked up, and met Steve’s eyes as he put his hand on the root of his shaft. Steve’s eyes were hooded, and his mouth was slightly open, and he said, “Oh, yes.” 

Bruce grinned and took in just the tip. He moved his lips softly, then pulled away and tongued along the underside of the head. “Fuck! Bruce!” Steve said, and Bruce lapped his tongue along the head before licking down, and then up, the large vein on the shaft. “Oh, god,” Steve moaned, and Bruce took the head in again, twirling his tongue around it in his mouth, and then outside of his mouth.

He noted Steve’s hand clenching the sheet next to them, and so while he generally teased for longer than this, he made an exception and began to slowly take in all of Steve’s cock - and it had been awhile, so slowly was important, since he wasn’t exactly dealing with an inconsiderable asset. “Nnngth,” Steve said, or something approximating that, and once Bruce had all he could manage he began to move slowly up and down.

A hand went into his hair, and he moaned when Steve was in his mouth. Steve echoed the sound, and twisted his fingers around some of Bruce’s curls. He palmed Steve’s balls and rocked them, gently, and Steve moaned louder. “Oh, fuck - Bruce - I-” he said, and so Bruce backed off and resumed ministering to the head, and then he took the opportunity to move his thumb backwards and stroke Steve’s perineum. This moan was deep in Steve’s throat, and so Bruce began to work his mouth over the entire cock again.

It wasn’t long, he knew, and he increased his speed as Steve placed both hands in his hair. “Oh, yes, fuck, yes-” Steve said, giving fair warning, Bruce slowed and took down his orgasm easily.

He swallowed, and then kissed his way back up Steve’s body until he got to his mouth. He planted a chaste kiss and then lay down on his side next to the soldier, whose eyes were still closed and whose mouth was slightly open. “Ohmygod,” he said, finally, opening his eyes. “Oh.” 

Bruce just smiled at him.

“I really like your smile,” Steve said, voice soft, and he turned his head so he could kiss Bruce hard, opened his mouth and pressed in, needy. “Bruce.” 

“Mmm?”

“I want to - for you, but I’m not sure-”

“Of course,” Bruce said, interjecting so Steve didn’t have to spell it out, and he pressed a kiss onto Steve’s forehead. 

Steve did as Bruce did, kissing his way down Bruce, though he left a hand placed on Bruce’s chest, working lightly through his chest hair. He spread Bruce’s leg’s by placing his hands inside Bruce’s thighs, and he pressed his mouth to either side of Bruce’s cock, leaving Bruce squirming - but Steve seemed to specialize in this, in building things at a slow rate, at dragging it out until Bruce was almost seeing white when he came.

He flicked his tongue, almost experimentally, and then traced it down the length of Bruce’s cock. Bruce moaned, and Steve placed his mouth over the tip and moved his lips, his tongue, softly at first, then he increased the pressure. “Yes, that’s - that’s great - it’s-”

“Mmm?” Steve asked, the tip of Bruce’s cock still in his mouth, and Bruce arched his hips into him. “Mmmmmm.” Steve said, and Bruce issued a sharp exhale.

He pulled his mouth away to run his tongue over the tip. “Also great,” Bruce managed, and then Steve began to work his way down Bruce’s cock. “Oh, god,” Bruce said, and Steve put his hand at the base of the shaft and began to pump in rhythm with his mouth. “Yeah, see, you were - oh, fuck!” he said, as Steve did something with his tongue he wasn’t quite sure of, and then Steve’s other hand was on Bruce’s hip and gripping tightly enough that Bruce knew he would have bruises tomorrow.

He didn’t say anything about that, instead just moaned as Steve varied what he was doing, alternating between his tongue and his mouth, bringing Bruce up sweet and slow until, suddenly, he was bobbing up and down and Bruce had his hands tangled in Steve’s hair. “God, Steve, that’s - don’t stop, don’t stop-” Bruce said, and then somehow managed to remind himself that it was Steve’s first time doing this and he might not necessarily be comfortable - “I’m going to, Steve, I’m going to-” 

Steve pulled away and immediately put his hand to work, and it only took two or three strokes to bring Bruce to conclusion. Steve was quickly next to Bruce and put his head on his chest. “Sorry,” he said.

“What?” Bruce asked, furrowing his brow. “Huh?” 

“Well, I wasn’t sure about-”

“Shush,” Bruce said, waving a hand and then using it to push Steve’s hair out of his forehead. 

“OK,” Steve said, and kissed him. 

They lay in silence for a few moments and Bruce allowed the blood flow to return to his head.

“Bruce..?” Steve said, voice soft and somewhere in Bruce’s chest.

“Yes?”

“Do you - I mean, would you mind if I...I mean, if you wanted. I’d like to stay. Tonight.” 

Bruce wrapped an arm tightly around Steve. “Of course,” he said. “You can always...if you want.” Steve laughed, slightly. “What?”

“Nothing, it’s just we’re both being...and we usually agree, so there’s no reason.” Bruce ran his fingers through Steve’s hair, smiling.

“That’s a good point,” he said, finally.

* * *

“So, I know that the two of you are free, because...” Tony said, the next morning, when Bruce turned up in his lab, “well, there’s no world that needs saving-”

“We might have plans,” Bruce said, not sure if he was going to like where this was going. 

“But you don’t, because you would have been more forceful, if you did,” Tony said. “And so, I thought - well, Pepper thought, too, primarily - that we should get dinner together.”

“Like a double date?” Bruce said. 

“I think so, yes, apparently this is what one does when one is a couple and has friends that have formed another couple,” Tony said. “So she made reservations at some dim sum place she likes. Is that alright?” 

“Why do I feel...unsettled by this?” Steve asked, when Bruce told him about Tony’s plans over lunch.

“It’s a normal reaction, when Tony attempts to do something...pedestrian,” Bruce said. “But Pepper will be there, so property damage will be kept to a minimum.” Steve nodded at this. “Plus, she always knows the best restaurants.” 

They found themselves at a small place in Chinatown where Pepper had them settled in a semi-secluded alcove. “So,” she said, smiling. “I thought it was time get Tony and Bruce out of the lab.” 

Bruce saw where she was going with this, and smiled slightly at her. “And dim sum can do this?” Steve asked, as Tony rolled his eyes. 

“There are plenty of things that get me out of the lab-”

“Lack of coffee,” Bruce said.

“Lack of booze,” Pepper added.

“Lack of sex,” Steve said.

“Look what you’ve done to him!” Tony said, looking at Bruce.

“People had...sex in the 1940s, Tony,” Steve said. “There was a war going on. Lots of considering your own mortality, that kind of thing.” 

“Besides, Tony, you can’t really get indignant on Steve’s behalf when you’ve spent a lot of time trying to provoke him into swearing, hacking into his computer and putting porn in his files-” Pepper began, as their drinks arrived.

“That was you?” Steve asked.

“Of course it was me,” Tony said, taking a sip of his cocktail. “Who else would..?”

“Clint,” Steve, Tony, and Pepper said together. 

“It’s much more of a Clint thing,” Steve further explained. “His humor is a little more...juvenile?” 

“Huh,” said Tony. “So he’s probably the one who ordered the ten inch dildo for me.” 

Pepper blinked once, then twice. “Do you regularly receive dildos in unmarked boxes?”

“It’s the only way they come!” Tony protested. “And besides...I don’t know - and come on, how many times have you told me about your drunk shopping? Oh, Tony, I couldn’t help it, there was a sale and it was the last in my size-”

“There is a difference between a pair of Louboutins and a dildo,” Pepper said.

“Not as many as you’d think,” Tony said, and, thankfully, the conversation was interrupted when the waiter came to take their order. 

Pepper placed it for all of them, her Mandarin slightly halting but good enough that the waitress could understand her.

“That’s very impressive, ma’am,” Steve said, smoothing his napkin across his waist. Pepper raised an eyebrow at Bruce and he nodded, slightly, agreeing - _I know, right? He’s adorable._

“Steve, really, we’re on a double date and we just talked about dildos. You can call me Pepper. And I did Rosetta Stone.” 

“You can learn Mandarin from that?” Steve asked, and Tony grinned and opened his mouth. Bruce cut him off.

“It’s a computer program,” he said. 

“Oh,” Steve said. “Well, I guess the name makes sense.”

“We’ve got the licenses to all the languages they offer for the company,” Pepper said, “If you want to learn another language, yourself.” 

“That’s really kind, ugh, Pepper,” Steve said. He smoothed his napkin and looked at Bruce. “Do you travel often to China?”

“Hong Kong, mostly,” she replied. “For business - I’ve got to go for a week, actually, on Tuesday-”

“You just got back,” Tony protested.

“From Frankfurt,” Pepper said. “Which is in Germany.” 

“Don’t we have someone else who can take care of this for you? Isn’t Natasha technically still an employee-”

“You want me to send Natasha to schmooz with your investors?” Pepper asked. 

Tony considered this. “It depends on which ones they are, I suppose,” he said. “She is, still, technically, an employee, right? Because I can think of a few-”

“No, Tony, just, no,” Bruce said. 

“She was quite charming as Natalie Rushman, I will have you know,” Tony replied. 

“Except she’s not,” Bruce said. “She’s...”

“Scary,” Steve filled in, and then looked at the rest of the table. “What? Am I the only one who thinks-”

“No, it’s just... _you_ think she’s scary?” Tony asked.

“I didn’t say I was scared of her,” Steve replied. “But, I mean...she has pulled people’s heads off with her thighs. This warrants classification as scary.” 

“Fair enough,” Tony said, and suddenly a tray was wheeled over to them and he clapped his hands together. “Excellent! Tiny Chinese delicacies...Pepper, remind me that it’s probably a bad idea to take Thor for dim sum, if I ever suggest it.” 

Bruce glanced over and saw Steve smiling at him, and so he leaned in and kissed him. As he withdrew, he caught Pepper’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but grimace slightly even as she smiled at them with what he could only describe as benevolent approval.


	3. Chapter 3

Bruce was patient. Bruce was not pushy. But it was hard - and _yes, thank you,_ he thought, _I’ll be here all weekend_ \- to be near Steve, to be near Steve _and_ naked with him, and not be fucking him. Or have Steve fucking him. Bruce was not particular, though he always hoped for a good mixture of both. He had been surprised, when he was dating Jeff, when one of their friends asked if he was a top or bottom. Jeff had been his first, and he had grinned - _fuck you,_ he said, and then, _real men switch off._

Not that Bruce wasn’t satisfied - he was. Very. Steve was a very tactile person, very considerate, and very strong. Bruce marveled at his body and traced the wide shoulders and planes of muscles on his back, held and squeezed his tight ass, kissed wherever he could. Steve seemed no less impressed with him, which Bruce found strange, and he didn’t interrogate it. 

Then there was a wayward scientist and some very large, very angry lizards - Tony thought they were enlarged Komodo dragons, Bruce was fairly certain they were Nile Monitors - and an army with very large weapons to back them up. 

“Hey,” Steve said, and Bruce blinked. There was something tight in his face. “You OK?” He handed Bruce a blanket as Bruce sat up. 

“Yeah, besides the normal...” Bruce said, and shook his head. He felt a little bit more disorientated that normal. “Please tell me that he didn’t eat one of those things.”

“Nope!” Tony said, and he was bouncing back and forth on his feet - another indication of nerves. “You ate a bomb.” 

“Then blew backwards into a building,” said Steve. “Growled. And then...you came back.” 

“Huh,” Bruce said. The Hulk must have been knocked unconscious - possibly a first. It may have also happened when he fell out of the Helicarrier. He hadn’t thought to ask the janitor too many questions. “Well, I’m good. Just a little dizzy, so - lizards? Army?”

“They have been vanquished,” Thor said, and then he scooped Bruce up into his arms. Bruce thought about protesting, but then saw that Steve was still concerned and thought better of it. “Your actions were most brave. We would all have been hurt most grievously without them.” 

“Are we going to need to start packing snacks?” Stark asked. “Seriously.” He laughed, then. Bruce widened his eyes. “Sorry, Clint on the comm - he suggested Hulk sized Poptarts.”

“A most noble undertaking,” Thor said, and Bruce laughed - Hulk and Thor sized Poptarts might not be so differently sized.

Bruce slept on the ride home, resting his head on Steve’s shoulder. He still felt a little sluggish when they arrived, and Steve held his waist as they exited the jet and then got into cars to take them back to the tower. 

“Not that I don’t appreciate not being blown up,” Steve said. “But-”

“I really can’t make any promises,” Bruce said, and he paused before he offered the rest, not sure how Steve would take it. “But...I mean, it’s kind of a good thing. He did it for you guys. To keep you safe.” 

“Yeah,” Steve said, smiling slightly, and then he blushed. “He’s now decided to call me the Pretty One.” _Concise and accurate,_ Bruce thought, but Steve seemed a little embarrassed - for good reason. Bruce was pretty sure how the others reacted to that.

Bruce pursed his lips. “I hope Natasha doesn’t take offense to that,” he said, finally. Steve leaned over and kissed him hard, on the lips. 

“If you can, try not to scare me - us -like that,” he said. 

Since the first battle in New York they had made it a habit of having a group meal, whether in the area they had just saved or back in New York, and this had generally evolved - or de-evolved, depending on your viewpoint - to team drinking and movie watching afterwards. And, since the first battle in New York, Tony always initiated. “So, kids, what are we in the mood for? Pizza? Thai? The Italian place down the street..?”

“Can we maybe hold off for an hour or so?” Steve said. “Bruce wanted to-” Bruce glanced at Steve, a little curious, and Steve smiled down at him.

“Sure, whatever, take your time, Big Guy,” Tony said. “We can reconvene at eight?” He looked at Bruce and Steve and sort of smiled at Bruce - why, Bruce did not know.

“Steve,” he said, as soon as they were in the elevator and heading towards Bruce’s floor. “I’m really OK, now, I slept it off, and-” His protests are silenced by Steve’s mouth on his, hard and urgent. _Oh,_ Bruce thought, and then, _Oh - healing cock. Well. Hopefully only Tony picked up on this._ Not that he cared, really - but he had always been a private person, and having his relationship as part of a group dynamic was a new thing for him. 

Steve kissed him out of the elevator, holding his hips and guiding him to the bedroom. Steve kissed him as he gently pressed Bruce down on the bed and kissed him as he unbuttoned Steve's flannel shirt. Clothing came off quickly, after that, and Bruce found himself on the bed with his limbs tangled along with Steve’s, a mouth on Steve’s nipple and a hand pressing hard into his hips.

He pulled Steve so that their cocks were aligned and arched against him for friction. Steve had lube, it seemed - _well done!_ Bruce thought, _I’ve trained him well!_ , and OK, he was still feeling a little dizzy and giddy - and he was soon fisting the two of them in his hand. Bruce moved his head up to kiss at Steve’s neck, and then his lips, and then he took in Steve’s earlobe and sucked, hard.

“Oh, fuck, Bruce,” Steve said, and he drew a hand down Bruce’s back and stopped, right at the curve of his back. “Which - OK, I didn’t set myself up well there, but I want to-” Bruce kissed his mouth, hard, tangling his tongue in with the soldier’s in what was probably equal parts desire and relief, though not the same relief that was driving Steve. “I want to make love.”

Those words had always seemed a little corny to Bruce, but it turned out you just needed to be an incredibly good and earnest person to pull them off. “Me too,” Bruce murmured, and Steve had slowed his pace on their cocks. “How?” 

“Oh, I-”

“Steve. This is completely up to you,” Bruce said. They had discussed this, briefly - Steve had found one of the dark recesses of the Internet and had been confused by a few things, though he had responded a lot better, in general, than Bruce would have thought.

Doing a complete one eighty from his earlier proclamation, Steve almost purred into Bruce’s ear, “I’d like to fuck you.” 

“Oh, god,” Bruce said, and his cock twitched. Steve grinned at him, eye’s wide.

“Just saying that..?” he asked, and Bruce nodded. “I want to fuck you,” he said, voice thick and rich again, and Bruce’s cock responded in kind. Steve was rightly pleased with himself. 

Bruce guided Steve so they were both on their sides and took the lube and coated Steve’s hand. “Move down,” he said, and Steve met his eyes as Bruce gave him the directions. “Just circle, you feel...yes, that. You want to use more lube before you...mmmm,” he said, because just the feel of Steve’s finger against the opening was delicious. “Very slow, just press in, just like that, you can move past the muscle...”

“Oh, goodness,” Steve said, and Bruce kissed him for that - Steve had long given up on the gosh’s and golly’s and now when they came up it was like when he had first started to swear in bed. 

“Keep moving in, circle slightly, like - yes, like that,” Bruce said, as Steve moved his hand to the second knuckle. “That’s perfect, you just want-”

“So...tight?” Steve managed, and Bruce nodded.

“It’s been awhile. Be gentle?” He grimaced, feeling a little silly, but Steve pressed his other hand to Bruce’s chest and nodded. 

“Now, crook your finger - you can feel it, it’s going to - _that!_ ” he said, and closed his eyes as Steve’s finger grazed against his prostate. “That, you want that.” He managed. Steve was teasing - no surprise there - increasingly his touch with end bend of his finger, but only barely. “Oh, fuck, Steve.”

Steve moved his other hand down and loosely pumped Bruce’s cock before taking his balls and rolling them gently. Bruce moaned. “Can I-”

“Yes,” Bruce said, and he kissed Steve on the neck as the second finger went in so that Steve didn’t hear the inevitable hissing sound - he didn’t want to do anything, at this point, to discourage him. “And work it in, just like before - oh, fuck, Steve! That’s so good,” he said, as Steve applied more pressure to his prostate. “You want to scissor.”

“Like this?”

“Yes,” Bruce said, beginning to feel the tug and burn and grinding his teeth slightly. “And just keep getting a little...more...” 

“Does it hurt?” Steve asked, voice soft.

“No,” Bruce said - and it wasn’t really lying, because Steve was being so conscious of touching that spot, of working his hand against Bruce's cock. “You’re so good, Steve...” 

He kissed him, then, light and yet greedy, because he had been waiting so long and he wanted Steve in him - “More,” he said. “And just break them apart, and - like you’re doing...oh, god...” he said, Steve hitting him straight on now. 

“How do we? I want to see you,” Steve murmured, and Bruce grabbed one of the thicker pillows and rolled on his back, putting the pillow beneath him. “Should I-?” Bruce arched an eyebrow - because, really? If the serum killed off everything that it did, there was no way an STD was going to make it. Steve shrugged, and grimaced slightly.

Bruce sat up and took the lube, but then realized he was at the perfect height to put his mouth on Steve’s cock - so he licked the head, lapped his tongue around the shaft, and then took all of Steve down.

“Oh, fuck, Bruce!” Steve said, and Bruce moved up and down for several beats, teased the head again, and then pulled away to work lube on Steve. He laid back down and pulled his legs back. “So, I just-” He pulled himself close to Bruce and his cock was in Bruce’s crease, and Bruce moaned. Then Steve was at his entrance, and Bruce met his eyes and nodded.

“Slow,” he said, and moaned as Steve made it in, moved past the muscle, and then held. 

“Oh, god...” Steve pulled the statement out, too, and Bruce laid his legs on Steve’s shoulders. “Oh, oh...”

“Just like that, Steve, that’s perfect,” Bruce said, and fuck, he was big - and Bruce knew this, of course, but he hadn’t _known_ it.

“You feel so, so, good,” Steve said, and Bruce arched his hips to adjust himself and he used a hand to guide Steve closer to him. “Oh...” Steve said, and he pushed himself the rest of the way in and Bruce closed his eyes and felt the stretch and tug and accepted it. “Oh, fuck. Bruce.” 

“Please,” Bruce said, because he knew it would get better. Steve pulled himself almost all of the way out and then slid in, still slow, but much smoother. He put his arms around Bruce’s leg’s and moved closer to him, and as he stroked again he was able to lean and kiss Bruce. It was sloppy, their mouths crashing together, and Bruce moaned into it - he was hungry for the contact, for someone filling him, and this wasn’t just someone but-

“Bruce?”

“Oh, fuck!” Bruce said, not sure what Steve had done to line him up perfectly. “Don’t move - I mean, move, but don’t change...”

Steve grinned. “Yeah?” he asked, and he slowed his pace and seemed to apply a little more of his strength and _ohfuckinggod_ Bruce thought as white lines began to cross his vision.

“Yes, oh, god, yes!” He fell into moans and sounds, then, as they continued, and he began to work back against Steve, urging him forward.

“Bruce - I-” Steve said, and Bruce guided one of Steve’s hands to his cock so and Steve began to work it in perfect rhythm with his strokes. Steve always grew quiet right before he came, and then made a soft noise as it happened. Bruce moaned as the warmth coursed into him and then closed his eyes for his own orgasm. 

“Steve,” Bruce said, after a long while. Steve was close to his face, and had a loose, relaxed smile on his face.

“Oh, that was - oh, wow.” Steve said, and he slipped out slowly and then flopped down next to Bruce. “Was it - I’m sorry, was it-”

“Shush, Steve,” Bruce said, and used a hand to tilt the soldier’s face towards him so he could kiss him. “It was...yeah.” 

Steve put his on Bruce’s chest and Bruce stroked through his hair - just another one of the ways that Steve was like a puppy, though Bruce would never share this list with him. 

“Should we shower?” Steve asked, voice soft. “I don’t want to get up, but-”

Bruce groaned, noting that it was seven thirty. “Yes,” he said. “Showering is a good idea.” 

* * * * 

They settled on Thai food - Bruce could tell immediately from the elevator, and Steve, from behind him, rested his head on Bruce’s shoulder. “Good?” he asked.

“I love Thai.”

“I know,” Steve replied. “It’s growing on me - I’m not used to spicy food. But-” He pulled his head up and let Bruce go once they got out - more for ease of movement than anything.

“Feeling a little more relaxed, Bruce?” Tony asked, as they entered the kitchen to find the other Avengers helping themselves to the veritable feast. Natasha arched an eyebrow at that, but she was busy answering Thor’s questions.

“And that?”

“Red curry.”

“That?”

“Yellow. And that’s green.”

“I believe you are playing me for the fool, Natasha,” Thor said, looking up at the rest of them. “This mimics your traffic signals! Surely they have proper names.”

“No - though that one is jungle curry,” Bruce said. “And that’s massaman, right?”

“Fuck’d if I know,” said Tony. “Clint ordered.”

“The only one they didn’t do veggie is the massaman,” Clint said. “Something about it being the last of the night or something. Oh, and the shrimp rolls, but that’s self-explanatory, I think.” 

“Thanks,” Bruce said. He immediately went for the pad thai, and heaped some on his plate and then Steve’s.

“Aw,” said Clint. 

“What?” asked Steve.

“Nothing. It’s just...a couple thing. He’s getting your food.” 

“One is expected to prepare the plate of their mate? How do you chose which mate does the preparing-” Thor began.

“No, no, you just...if you feel like it. It’s a nice thing to do,” Bruce said, and Steve turned slightly red and took his own green curry.

“Parents do it for their kids,” Tony said. Bruce gave him a curt head shake, and Tony put a hand on his chest, as if wounded.

“More important,” said Natasha, “I think it’s your turn to pick the movie, Clint - so what are you subjecting us to tonight?” 

“Oh! Oh! Really?” Clint said. “Something fun! Uplifting!”

“God help us,” Natasha said.

“The Hangover?” Clint said. Everyone stared him for awhile. “What? What is wrong with that movie-?” His last choice, _Inglorious Bastards,_ had been vetoed by Bruce, Tony, and Natasha before a discussion of the subject matter even came up after Clint had protested because it had a happy ending. 

“Thor might be a little sensitive about that one scene, you know-” Tony began.

“With the taser?” Clint asked.

“Do you take me for some delicate flower, Stark?” Thor asked. 

“Nope, OK, fine, let’s do it,” Tony said.

“I will empathize with this character, aye, but I have certainly suffered much more grievous wounds-” 

“Excellent,” said Clint.

“Besides, is a taser not a mighty weapon?” Thor asked, as they sat down to eat.

“Very,” Bruce said, before anyone else could jump in.

“Oh, come on-” said Tony.

“Have you ever been tased?” Bruce asked. 

“Are you really asking him that?” Natasha asked.

“Are you implying that I am the sort of person who you would expect to get tased?” Tony replied.

“Yes,” Natasha replied. 

“You’ve been tased?” Steve asked Bruce quietly. 

“Yeah, but...it’s fine,” Bruce said, even though it wasn’t. Steve knew this, of course, and he put a hand on Bruce’s thigh and squeezed, frowning slightly.

* * *

Bruce wasn’t entirely sure if he had made the right decision, so he sought the opinion of two people who existed at opposite ends of the spectrum and who knew Steve well enough that their opinions would be worthwhile. “So, I, ugh, know that we’re both adults and everything,” he said to Pepper as they had lunch at her favorite sushi restaurant, “but I thought Steve might appreciate if I did something for our two month, uhm...”

“Go on,” Pepper said, arching an eyebrow.

“Well, our first date - I mean, I didn’t think it was a date, at the time? He might have? Anyway, it was at the MoMA. And they have that restaurant, so I thought-”

“Oh, he’ll love it,” said Pepper. 

Natasha listened to his whole explanation with her lips pursed, before she said, “Steve seems to be quite romantic.” 

So Bruce made reservations, and put on one of the navy suits Tony had bought for him, a white shirt, and a floral printed tie, and waited for Steve at the elevator. He couldn’t help but smile at Steve’s own suit - light grey, with a red, navy, and white striped tie that Bruce knew was not intentional. “You look fantastic,” he said, as Steve said the same thing but with “wonderful.” They looked at each other, and then Bruce smiled and kissed him. 

Tony, upon hearing about Bruce’s plan - from Clint, proving that Natasha wasn’t above things like gossip even though she claimed to be - had insisted they have a driver take them and further insisted that he be allowed to book them in a private room. _You do not need people taking pictures of you on their cellphones!_ he said, and Bruce had to cede that one to him. 

Bruce didn’t tell Steve the destination, and he watched, nervous for his - lover? boyfriend? none of those really fit, really encompassed the whole of what was going on - Steve’s reaction. His Steve. It worked, he supposed, but only if he never mistakenly uttered it out loud.

“Oh,” Steve said, and then there was a broad smile on his face, and he leaned over and kissed Bruce. “Oh. Bruce.” 

Bruce scratched the back of his head. “It’s...dinner?” he said. Steve shook his head and offered him his hand as he got out of the car. 

“Don’t do that,” Steve said. “This is great, I - thank you.” Bruce nodded. 

After they were seated at their table, Steve shrugged and looked guilty. “I hope you don’t mind, but I figured - after you told me to wear a suit? - that Tony would know where we were going, so I had him, uhm, set something up?” 

“Oh,” Bruce said, because he couldn’t imagine - and then Steve nodded at their waiter, who walked over and had a flat box in his hand.

“So this is for you,” Steve said. 

Bruce undid the ribbon on the box and felt his mouth go dry, not really sure what to expect. He pulled the tissue aside and his mouth opened when he saw what was inside - a simple silver frame inside of which was a drawing of the two of them. Bruce was seated upright on the bed and Steve was laying with his head in Bruce’s lap, both of them in pajamas. Bruce was absently stroking Steve’s hair. “How..?”

“I had JARVIS help,” Steve said, and he did the nervous shrug again. Bruce reached across the small table and took Steve’s hand and squeezed it.

“I don’t have-”

“You did this,” Steve said, waving his hand. “That was the least I could do. Seriously - really, this is...I’ve never had an...anniversary.” Steve said the last word softly, and Bruce nodded his head at him. He pulled Steve in for a kiss.

Steve had wine with dinner, after the waiter extolled how well the food paired with it. “This is really, really nice,” Steve said, and Bruce had to agree - it was also one of the more expensive bottles of wine he’d ever bought at a restaurant, but, with the stupid salary Tony was giving him and the fact that he refused to charge for rent and food, he could afford it. _And how strange was that?_ Bruce had to think. Four months ago he’d been barely scraping enough together to live on in Kolkata. 

“I can’t decide which dessert to get,” Steve said, looking at the menu.

“So get all the ones you want,” Bruce replied. Steve raised his eyebrows, and Bruce shrugged. “It’s a private room. The waiter knows Pepper and Tony - they give a lot, to the museum.”

“OK,” Steve said, and not that Bruce had a thing for food, or eating, but he always like when Steve was unbridled and did something with evident joy. Bruce tried a few bites of each, and even though it resulted in a moderate food coma he was glad that they could spend the ride home debating the merits of the various confections. 

Once they were in the elevator, Steve put his hands on either side of Bruce’s head and pulled him in for a deep kiss. Bruce melted into it - Steve still tasted a little of chocolate and caramel - and pulled himself as close as he could to Steve.

“Hey! Get a room!” Both of them turned, startled, to find Barton - they had picked him up at the archery range, which was the lowest floor of the Avengers quarters. 

“We were on our way to-” Steve began, and Clint just shook his head and pressed the close button on the elevator. “Oh.”

“Could have been worse,” Bruce said.

“Tony,” Steve said.

“Thor,” Bruce added. “Fury.” 

“Does Fury know?”

“Fury knows everything. I’m sure Coulson told him. I’m surprised we haven’t had to-” Bruce stopped, and shook his head.

“What?” Steve asked.

“I’m not going to say it, because there is no wood to knock on, so it will happen.” Steve still looked oblivious - it was another puppy similarity, since he got very wide eyes in these instances. “One of Coulson’s _favorite_ things,” Bruce said. He made a writing motion with his hand.

“You have to do that? For-?” Steve stopped when the elevator door opened, and he shrugged his shoulders and tugged Bruce out of it and towards Bruce’s bedroom - they had settled on his floor, only because he had several more items of furniture than Steve, largely based on the fact that he had been living in the Tower longer and that most everything in Steve’s Brooklyn apartment had turned out to be SHIELD property. 

Bruce moved his hands forward to loosen the tie around Steve’s neck, getting one last look of him in the suit. He kissed him, and pulled away only to suck hard on the younger man’s bottom lip before releasing it. “Oh?” Steve said, and he went one step further and took Bruce’s tie off and tossed it onto a nearby chair. 

They undressed as they stood, hands roaming each other’s bodies and murmuring soft, pleasant sounds at each other until they were in their underwear and on the bed. Bruce guided Steve onto his back and straddled him - he liked this view of his...Steve, and slowly ran his hands down Steve’s sides and then up his abdomen, settling his thumbs on Steve’s nipples and working them lightly.

He kissed him, and ceded the top - he liked the feel of Steve, over him, it was this overwhelming feeling of security and safety. “Bruce, I...” 

“Hmm?” Bruce asked, as Steve blushed. “Steve?”

“I want to try - I’d like you to-” 

Bruce cocked his head, slightly. He hadn’t pushed the issue since they had started making love - in earnest - each time happy to bottom. “As long as you’re sure.” 

“You seem to enjoy it,” Steve said.

“Steve?” Bruce asked. “You don’t have-”

“I want to,” Steve said. “I want to, badly. I want you inside me, I want you to fuck me.” Bruce moaned at this, and this time the kiss between them was hard, hungry, and needy. 

“If, at any point-”

“I will,” Steve said, and Bruce nodded, content that Steve would keep his word - he didn’t want anything to spoil the evening. He arched his hips into Steve and they kissed, touched, and stroked one another for some time - they were well suited to each other, in the fact that, after the novelty of things wore off, they each cherished a slow build. 

“Bruce, please...” Steve said, and his voice was quite...wanton, almost, and Bruce could not resist that. He arranged several pillows and guided Steve onto his stomach, then he laid over him. He kissed his mouth, first, and then worked his way down, mouth touching each of Steve’s vertebrae and then diverging to kiss either side of his perfect ass.

He spread him, gently, and licked a long stripe. “Bruce!” Steve said, and Bruce didn’t respond, preferring to lick another stripe and then focusing his attention at Steve’s opening. He flicked his tongue a few times before he began to lick, slow and then building, circling and then lapping. Steve issued loud moans that made Bruce grin, interspersed with “fuck!” and “oh god!” _Wait,_ Bruce thought, and he continued until he was fairly sure Steve thought he had experienced the extent of things. Then Bruce pushed his tongue inwards. “Oh god, oh fuck, Bruce!” Steve said, and Bruce swirled his tongue before breeching further. 

He spread Steve a little farther, gaining more access, and then withdrew and plunged in, again and again, before he began to alternate between that and just tonguing the outside. “Bruce! Please! I need...” Steve managed, at one point, and Bruce pulled away and reached the lube. 

“Turn,” he said, and Steve obliged - Bruce had to close his eyes to inhale once he saw him. The younger man’s mouth was open and he was biting at his lower lip, and his eyelashes were framing his eyes perfectly. “You are so beautiful,” he said, and slicked Steve’s cock before he circled his finger where his tongue had just been.

He was careful, opening him and stretching him, taking his time and ministering to his prostate while he also gently stroked his cock. “So gorgeous,” he murmured, as he began to scissor, and by then Steve had his eyes closed and he was biting hard at his lip. “Steve?”

“It’s...I’m good, it’s a little...”

“It will be,” Bruce said, and ran a finger over his prostate.

“Fuck!” Steve said. “Oh, more, more-” 

Bruce wanted to give it to him, but had to remind himself to work slowly. It wasn’t often that you had a first time like this - he was determined for it to be perfect. He waited another two or three minutes before he said, “Steve. Three, now.”

“Yes, please,” Steve said, and he finally opened his eyes and met Bruce’s. 

Bruce shook his head, slightly, struck for a moment with a sudden feeling of peace marked, still, with a tinge of curiosity - how had he come to be here, of all places, with this man? He slipped three fingers in slowly, and had to look away as Steve winced, slightly, but soon he was smiling as Bruce moved his thumb along the underside of his cock and struck his prostate simultaneously.

“I’m ready, Bruce, I need-” Steve said, and Bruce withdrew. He glanced over his body, pleased to see that Steve appeared relaxed, and he slicked his own cock. 

“Legs on my shoulders,” he murmured, and closed his eyes as Steve complied. He was so ready for this, wanted this badly - _patience, Banner,_ he told himself. 

He pressed in slowly. “Oh, oh,” Steve said, as Bruce made it past the muscle and settled, for a moment, to let him get used to it. “OK,” he said.

As with Bruce’s first time, they worked against each other and adjusted, Bruce shuffling forward slightly and then removing a pillow as he pressed slowly inwards. It didn’t take long for him to bottom out - it was easier, he supposed, if you were a super-soldier - and when he did he leaned down and kissed Steve hard. 

He was almost methodical, the first few strokes, but then he shifted and Steve actually howled, and Bruce knew that that was the end of him being able to make objective, conscious decisions. “Ohmygodthatsso-” Steve managed, and Bruce quickened slightly, flicking his hips as he moved. “Oh, Bruce.”

“Steve. You’re amazing,” Bruce murmured, and kissed the soft underside of his knee. They sunk into a rhythm, together, and Bruce kept his strokes long as he increased his pace. 

“Bruce - I’m - I’m-” Steve said, and Bruce reached forward only to have his hand gently batted out of the way. “I want, will I..?”

“Yes,” Bruce said, and just the idea of Steve coming on his cock alone took him one step closer to his own orgasm. He moved more forcefully, harder into Steve, and the younger man’s moan was long and loud when he came against his stomach. Bruce required only a few moments more, and then he collapsed against Steve’s one leg. 

He pulled out quickly, because he wanted to curl into the other man and hold him. Steve made a slight sound, but then Bruce settled his head onto Steve’s chest and wrapped an arm around him. 

“That was...” Steve said. Then, “Wow.” 

“Well, I’m glad-”

“Bruce.” Bruce looked up and saw Steve smiling at him. “You know.”

“Know what?” 

“How good that was - for me. And you. But, it’s OK, I get it, it’s part of your charm...” Steve sighed, and rolled Bruce onto his side so he could kiss him and place a hand on his ass. “Thank you,” he said.

“No...thank you,” Bruce replied. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Steve grinned and giggled. “What?”

“You’re adorable. You have no idea.” 

“I could say the same.”

“I am OK with that,” Steve said, and he kissed Bruce again. “Do you think we can both fit in the bath?”

“Are we living in Tony’s Stark’s Tower?” Bruce asked. 

* * * 

The next morning, Bruce turned a very deep shade of red when he found two post-it notes stuck to their door. _Bruce - whatever you’re doing, you need to teach Tony,_ it said. Underneath it, on a purple post-it - thus revealing it writer - was a shorter note. _Me too, Dr!_

“What?” Steve asked, when he saw Bruce - and he could only shake his head and show Steve the Post-Its. Steve turned a similar shade of red and then took them from Bruce. “This one, we save,” he said, holding the note from Pepper. Bruce arched an eyebrow. “What? You never know when it might prove useful...”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the following prompt at Avengerkink:  
>  _Steve discovers, when he moves into Avengers Tower, that Bruce is the one who is most patient explaining technology/modernity/anything else he's slow to catch up on._
> 
>   _Cue this turning into both of them being incredibly awkward and fumbly with one another, trying to flirt and not sure what to do...they start going out, but neither admits it's a date...until eventually, the dam breaks and one of them kisses the other and their attraction becomes obvious._
> 
>   _Since Steve is Steve, they take it slow - and this OP wants to see the progression to full penetrative sex_
> 
>   _Bonus for trusting bottom Steve_
> 
>  I couldn't resist - the idea of the two of them being awkward and adorable together was too much, even if it is an unusual pairing. But, as this fandom is proving, I will pretty much ship anyone/anyone, with a few exceptions.


End file.
